Adherents.com: Religious Groups in Literature

34,420 citations from literature (mostly science fiction and fantasy) referring to real churches, religious groups, tribes, etc. [This database is for literary research only. It is not intended as a source of information about religion.]

"'You had to know how truly Man has become poor, little rich boy, sitting in the midst of his wealth of Christmas gadgetry which has become abundant beyond his capacity to use it; and that inside, a slowly crumbling psyche is leaving him a hollow, eyeless shell which will collapse upon the heap of shining gadgetry when his last internal fires are dead...' "

"He sent O'Hare a postcard [from Dresden to U.S.] at Christmastime, and here is what it said:

'I wish you and your family also as to your friend Merry Christmas and a happy New Year and I hope that we'll meet again in a world of peace and freedom in the taxi cab if the accident will.' " [Also pg. 91, 252.]

'Oh, yes,' Foster said. 'They'll be out by Christmas... I'll buy one of the damn things for Christmas, and so will everybody else.'

The GEC grill-screen adaptors were a sensation.

Mike Foster walked slowly along the crowd-packed December street... Adaptors glittered in every store window. All shapes and sizes, for every kind of shelter. All prices, for every pocketbook. The crowds of people were gay and excited, typical Christmas crowds, shoving good-naturedly, loaded down with packages and heavy overcoats. " [More, pg. 224-226.]

"In the downtown circular plaza each Christmas, there was an enormous Santa Claus built from wire and twisted paper... "

Christianity - Christmas

USA

1978

King, Stephen. The Stand. Garden City, NY: Doubleday (1978); pg. 796.

"'Morning,' Stu answered casually. 'And a merry Christmas.'

'Christmas?' Tom looked at him and forgot all about how badly he had to whiz. 'Christmas?' he said again.

'Christmas morning.' He hooked a thumb to Tom's left. 'Best I could do.'

Stuck to the snowcrest was a spruce-top about two feet high. It was decorated with a package of silver icicles Stu had found in the back room of the Avon Five and Ten. " [More about Christmas, pg. 796-799.]

"He also has a pair of green leisure slippers that Mama knit him last Christmas. He wore them Christmas morning. It is now June. " [Refs. to Christianity throughout story, not in DB.]

Christianity - Christmas

USA

1979

Ing, Dean. Soft Targets. New York: Tor (1996; c. 1979); pg. 144.

Christmas package (also pg. 149, 177)

Christianity - Christmas

USA

1981

Crowley, John. Little, Big. New York: Bantam (1981); pg. 161.

"'I mean,' Doctor Drinkwater said, reappearing beside him, 'that every Christmas seems to follow immediately after the last one; all the months that came between don't figure in Christmases succeed each other, not the falls they follow.'

'That's right,' said Mother, making stately progress... 'It seems you just get through one and there's another.' " [More about Christmas, particularly about Santa Claus, pg. 162-166, 443.]

Knight, Damon. "Tarcan of the Hoboes " in One Side Laughing. New York: St. Martin's Press (1991; 1982); pg. 36.

[Author's introduction] "I was driving with my son Jonathan one day in late December when he noticed two hoboes with a Christmas tree beside the tracks. That started me thinking about hobo jungles... "

"Thad insisted that both his sons be home for Christmas. That meant accepting Thaddy's apartment mate as a house guest for the weekend, since Thaddy would not let Alan spend Christmas alone. When the two boys arrived, carrying one bag between them, Thaddy made it plain that Alan would not sleep alone in a guest room. " [More, pg. 224-225.]

'It's a Christmas catalogue,' Ben explained to the big man quickly. 'From Rosen's, Ltd. out of New York. A Wishbook. You've seen the type--full of one of a kind gifts.' " [Many other refs. to the Wishbook, not in DB. It is the catalyst for the entire plot of the book.]

Randle, Kristen D. The Only Alien on the Planet. New York: Scholastic Inc. (1995); pg. 87.

Pg. 87: "I talked about the old house and Christmases past... "; Pg. 113: "The patio stood open, light pouring out of it onto the patio, and the windows glowed like Christmas. "; Pg. 212: "'Christy and I are getting married at Christmas. I'll have my master's by spring. I have a very good job offer--' "; Pg. 223: "They kept him at the hospital till nearly Christmas. "

Christianity - Christmas

USA

1995

Randle, Kristen D. The Only Alien on the Planet. New York: Scholastic Inc. (1995); pg. 2-3.

"He intended to sell our good old house and move us thousands of miles east.

'I promise you Winter . . .' he says, like he's performing some kind of great magic,' . . .Autumn, White Christmases. A House with a Fireplace...' "

[Frontispiece] "The house is warm, good cheer abounds,The heart of Christmas is all around.The children sing, their voices sweet,The candles are lit, such rosy heat,My heart is full, my eyes aglow,For those here with me and those I cannot know.May peace be ours, may peace be theirs,Let us remember all mankind in our Christmas prayers.

"...Julia said, 'Mrs. Martin, did you know that I'm in charge of the Country Club Christmas Ball this year?'

'Oh, how nice. Is this your first time?' Ruth asked.

'Yes, and I've had such great support from the community. Everyone seems so excited about the dance. It's a chance to put on our Christmas finery and help support the development of a new children's wing at the hospital. I'm delighted to be a part of it.' " [Many other refs. to Christmas throughout novel. As the title indicates, the entire book is an extended Christmas story. Only a few example refs. in DB.]

"'At least they haven't changed the town square,' Will continued. 'It was always decked out for the holidays. There were lights everywhere. People running around doing their shopping. The windows of the stores all decorated. Simpson's clothing had an animated Santa Claus that I particularly loved. Church bells played carols in the cold, vibrant air and carolers sang near the Nativity scene in the middle of the square... We'd shop until all the stores closed and then we'd hurry home to wrap presents. The crowning event was when we'd help Grandpa decorate the Christmas tree... I don't think I'll ever forget those evenings.' "

Christianity - Christmas

USA

1996

Bear, Greg. The Forge of God. New York: Tor (1987); pg. 111.

"This had been a wonderful early Christmas present, bright and filled with hope for an unimaginable future, a future of humans interacting with other intelligences. Now, by Christmastime, the Earth might not even exist. "

Pg. 256: "Jack Nicholson in The Shining... And he-e-e-ere's Christmas! knocking down your door with an ax.

So three weeks before my second Christmas marooned in Geekville... "; Pg. 257: "I start thinking about Dad and how Christmases used to be, with six-foot-tall fir trees, and pumpkin pies, and Santa Claus cooking, and I remember Gran saying, 'Not so much fuss this year,' and all of a sudden I'm boohooing. " [Other refs. not in DB. This is a Christmas story.]

Pg. 38: "Even my mother's face, usually pale, thinnish, looked ruddy and cheerful, like a Christmas card... "; Pg. 75: "...but a little window, a very little window, like the wrong end of a telescope, like the window on a Christmas card... "; Pg. 138: "Scrabble... My mother had a set, kept at the back of the hall cupboard, with the Christmas tree decorations in their cardboard boxes. "; Pg. 194: "She wanted us to look like something Anglo-Saxon, carved on a tomb; or Christmas card angels, regimented in our robes of purity. "; Pg. 244: "'I left that old hag Aunt Elizabeth tied up like Christmas turkey behind the furnace...' "; Pg. 274: "The sun comes out, and the stage and its occupants light up like a Christmas creche. "

"Not that your father wasn't a nice guy and all, but he wasn't up to fatherhood. Not that I expected it of him. Just do the job, then you can bugger off, I said, I make a decent salary, I can afford daycare. So he went to the coast and sent Christmas cards. He had beautiful blue eyes though. But there's something missing in them... "

Christianity - Christmas

USA

1998

Brooks, Terry. A Knight of the Word. New York: Ballantine (1998); pg. 23.

"Christmas Eve. The organ played the last notes of 'O Come, O Come Emmanuel,' and the choir sat down. Reverend Wall hobbled slowly to the pulpit, clutching his sheaf of yellowed typewritten sheets.

In the choir, Dee leaned over to Sharon and whispered, 'Here we go. Twenty-four minutes and counting.'

...Reverend Wall set the papers on the pulpit, looked rheumily out over the congregation, and said, ' 'And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judeo, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David. To be taxed with Mary, his espoused wife, being great with child.' ' " [Many other refs. throughout story, not in DB. Story is about a Christmas pageant in a Protestant church.]

"There was a Christmas tree in the lobby when Lauren got to work, and the receptionist was sitting with her chin in her hand, watching the security monitor. Lauren set her shopping bag down and looked curiously at the screen. On it, Jimmy Stewart was dancing the Charleston with Donna Reed.

Lauren stuck her messages in the top of her shopping bag and went up to her department. Red and green crepe paper hung in streamers from the ceiling, and there was a big red crepe-paper bow tied around Lauren's desk.

'The Personnel Morale Special Committee did it,' Evie said... 'They've decorated the whole building, and they want us and Document Control to go caroling this afternoon. Don't you think PMS is getting out of hand with this Christmas spirit thing?...' "

We are always striving to increase the accuracy and usefulness of our website. We are happy to hear from you. Please submit questions, suggestions, comments, corrections, etc. to: webmaster@adherents.com.